IACHR calls for int'l probe of alleged rights abuses in Bolivia

Amy Booth. Al Jazeera. December 14, 2019

La Paz, Bolivia - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) this week called for an international investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Bolivia following the disputed October presidential election that sparked weeks of violence.

Evo Morales resigned as president on November 10 amid pressure after an audit by the Organization of American States (OAS), which found widespread electoral irregularities. Morales maintains he was a victim of a coup.

Weeks of unrest followed Morales's resignation, with security forces and protesters clashing in several cities as blockades went up that cut off major supplies of food and fuel.

In its preliminary report, published on Tuesday, the IACHR said it had found "strong indications of human rights violations, with profound repercussions for the life of Bolivian society".

Bolivia's interim government, led by Jeanine Anez, disputed the report.

"The Ministry of the Presidency considers that this is an unfair report that has not evaluated everything that happened during the events in November," Eddy Luis Franco, vice minister for coordination with social movements, was quoted by state news agency ABI as saying on Wednesday.

Massacres
At least 36 people have been killed in post-election violence, according to the report.

On November 15, nine people were killed in the town of Sacaba after police and military attempted to stop a group of pro-Morales coca growers and farmers from marching to the city of Cochabamba. Four days later, nine others were killed in the El Alto neighbourhood of Senkata, just outside the capital city of La Paz, during a police and military operation to clear a blockade of a fuel plant. Both events can be categorised as massacres, the report said. Several people were also killed in Pedregal, to the south of La Paz.

The report recognised that a range of social groups took part in the post-election protests and violent acts were carried out by people of diverse political affiliations, but stated that the violations of human rights were carried out by state agents during the repression of protests.

In Sacaba and Senkata, security forces denied they had shot at protesters and said the protesters had been shooting among themselves. However, witnesses in both locations told IACHR they were unarmed and security forces fired on them.

Several people in Senkata were killed simply passing by, the commission found.

Yosimar Choque Flores was walking through Senkata to the bank the day of the killings. Two blocks from the gas plant, he found people who were injured and stopped to help. He was shot in the arm as he tended to a woman who had passed out from the tear gas.

"Left, right, all over the place, [the soldiers] were shooting," he told Al Jazeera.

The IACHR received several reports of corpses being removed by state agents. Several people reported seeing the bodies of a woman and a girl around the age of 12. According to the ombudsman's official list, all of those killed were men. Many survivors and witnesses believe the true death count is far higher than the nine reported, the commission found.

Of the hundreds of people detained during the violence, most are in preventive detention, according to Bolivia's general prosecutor. The IACHR's technical team found that the register of who has been detained is incomplete. The report quotes a report by the ombudsman stating that during cell visits, they found 18 people who had been injured, two of them seriously. They had not received medical attention.

Several people were also killed during clashes between opposing groups of protesters. One man had been tied up and died of strangulation and another was beaten to death by a group, the report said. Overall, at least 800 people were injured and that number is expected to rise.

The report also expressed concern about the political persecution of public functionaries who were working for Morales's government. The Association of Mayors of Bolivia reported that at least 65 local authorities had resigned as a result of pressure and intimidation. Ex-ministers said their addresses, phone numbers, and other personal details were being circulated on social media, and in some cases, this led to their houses being ransacked or burned.

About 50 journalists from 20 national and international media were attacked during the protests. Assaults came from both sides and, in some cases, security forces.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations for the Bolivian government, including guaranteeing the rights to protest and freedom of expression, comprehensive reparations for the victims' families, and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Bolivia's Congress approved last month a bill that annuls the result of October's election and calls for new elections to be held without Morales. The elections are expected sometime next year.

Bolivia's interim leader says arrest warrant to be issued against Morales

Reuters. December 14, 2019

SANANDITA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia will issue an arrest warrant in the coming days against former leftist President Evo Morales, accusing him of sedition, interim Bolivian President Jeanine Anez said on Saturday.

Morales is in Argentina, granted refugee status this week just days after the inauguration of new President Alberto Fernandez. Peronist Fernandez succeeded outgoing conservative Argentine leader Mauricio Macri, who lost his bid for re-election in October.

Morales had spent the previous month in Mexico in the wake of a highly-contested October election in Bolivia. He had proclaimed victory after his government was accused of manipulating the vote results. Morales, who had been in power nearly 14 years, left Bolivia as the controversy grew.

"He can return whenever he wants. He left because he wanted to," Anez told reporters. "The arrest warrant will be issued in the next few days, because we have already brought the charges."

Morales had obtained his fourth consecutive term in the October vote, according to the official count, which was criticized for irregularities by the Organization of American States. Morales resigned under pressure from the armed forces in what he has called a coup d'etat.

Argentina to Allow Refugee Morales of Bolivia to Make Political Statements

Reuters. December 15, 2019

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina will allow former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who arrived on Thursday and has been granted refugee status, to make political statements during his stay in the country, a top official said in an interview published Sunday.

The statement by Argentina cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero contradicted Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Sola, who had said on Thursday he had asked Morales to refrain from making political statements.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, inaugurated on Tuesday, had said before taking office that leftist Morales would be welcome in the country. Morales left Bolivia after a contested October election that caused a political crisis.

"The refugee has the same rights as an Argentine citizen in terms of freedom of expression. We are not going to restrict his freedoms," Cafiero told daily newspaper La Nacion.

Morales later wrote on Twitter that he was helping to plan his party's campaign strategy for the upcoming election.

Bolivia's acting president said on Saturday that an arrest warrant for Morales on charges of sedition would be issued over the days ahead.

Morales left Bolivia in mid-November, within days of resigning after the Organization of American States said there were irregularities in the way votes were counted in the October election. Morales claims to have won re-election in the vote.

He resigned under pressure from the armed forces in what he has called a coup d'etat. Morales Arrive in Argentina from Mexico, where he had spent about a month after leaving Bolivia.

Erik Prince Held Secret Talks in Caracas With Maduro’s No. 2

Ben Bartenstein and Stephanie Baker. Bloomberg. December 13, 2019

Erik Prince, a private security mogul with ties to the Trump administration, held secret talks in Caracas last month with Venezuela’s vice president after briefing at least one senior U.S. official on his plans, according to people familiar with the situation.

Prince, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater -- who earlier in the year had pitched a plan to topple the nation’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro -- proposed a business deal and urged freedom for six imprisoned Citgo executives in the meeting with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, according to one of the people.

A few days ago, the Citgo employees were transferred to house arrest from prison, where they’d languished for two years. It’s unclear why they were moved or if Prince’s request played a role. Citgo is the U.S. arm of Venezuela’s state oil company.

The trip was Prince’s initiative, not the administration’s, but he let at least one senior official know about it. It’s unclear whether he was carrying an official message or going mostly to drum up business.

A person briefed on the meeting said Prince suggested sending personnel to train the nation’s police force as well as protecting judges and political candidates to help pave the way for new presidential elections.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido on Saturday said the meeting shows the Maduro government is feeling the pinch of financial sanctions imposed on the oil-producing nation. “Those secret meetings are part of the desperation,” Guaido said Saturday during a Caracas news conference. “They will cry to see if they have a meeting, if the sanctions are taken away.”

U-Turn
Prince’s trip may be the latest sign of a shift in Washington’s Venezuela policy as President Donald Trump loses confidence that opposition leader Juan Guaido can ever overthrow Maduro. It also marks a U-turn for Prince, whose earlier plan called for thousands of soldiers-for-hire to oust Maduro after the U.S. recognized Guaido, as Venezuela’s rightful leader in January.

Maduro was later briefed on Prince’s visit, the people said, suggesting a potential back channel between two leaders who’ve castigated each other in public. Rodriguez, one of Maduro’s closest aides, is sanctioned by the U.S. government, and discussing any business with her without permission is against U.S. law.

For the Maduro regime, holding talks with an arch-enemy like Prince makes sense because they could present an opportunity for a deal that would alleviate the financial pressure the oil-producing country is under. While Maduro has successfully managed to stave off Guaido’s bid to take control of the government, top officials have been hamstrung by crippling U.S. economic sanctions.

Messages seeking comment left for Prince at two of his companies weren’t answered, nor were those for Rodriguez. Jorge Rodriguez, her brother and the information minister, replied, “no comment.” The White House didn’t immediately respond.

Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special envoy for Venezuela, said the department had no knowledge of Prince’s meeting.

“Neither the meeting nor any offers made were on behalf of the United States Government and on their face such offers would appear to violate U.S. sanctions,” he said by email. “The United States fully supports Juan Guaido and looks forward to his re-election as president of the National Assembly. He is the leader of the opposition and the symbol of democratic change for Venezuelans; he personifies their struggle to restore democracy to their country.”

Last week, Vice President Mike Pence met with senior officials to re-examine the White House’s yearlong push for a democratic transition in the nation. After failing to usurp Maduro in a spring uprising, Guaido is losing political capital. Earlier this month, the Venezuelan legislature launched an investigation into potential influence-peddling among opposition lawmakers. On Jan. 5, the National Assembly is set to vote on whether Guaido remains its president.

Prince, heir to a billionaire fortune and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, made a name for himself as a private security contractor. During the Iraq War, the U.S. government hired Blackwater to provide security for State Department operations there. In 2007, Blackwater employees shot and killed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, drawing global condemnation.

One of his top clients is the Chinese government. He’s also been questioned in investigations of Russian meddling into the 2016 elections over whether he tried to establish a back channel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin. China and Russia remain two of Maduro’s most powerful backers.

Prince, a prominent Trump donor, has also worked with former Trump campaign chief Steve Bannon on an effort to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border among other projects.

Colombia’s strike leaders call for new mass protests on Monday

Adriaan Alsema. Colombia Reports. December 15, 2019

The leaders of a national strike in Colombia on Saturday called for strikes and marches on Monday when congress is preparing to vote on a widely rejected tax reform.

Labor union leader Diogenes Orjuela said that unions, students and indigenous groups will organize another day of mass marches after persistent refusals by President Ivan Duque to negotiate demands.

The first national strike on November 21 triggered massive anti-government protests and has sunk Duque’s approval rating to a record low.

The strike day will coincide with meetings of the center-right U Party and Radical Change over whether they will support or reject the tax reform the strike leaders want revoked.

The Liberal Party, which initially supported the reform that includes massive corporate tax discounts, has already pulled its support in response to the protests.

The decisions of the other two parties of the center right voting bloc will decide the fate of the reform that is rejected by the majority of the population as well as economists.

The strike leaders hope to reignite the protests that have waned since Sunday last week when some of the country’s top musical acts organized a mass protest in the capital, Bogota.

The labor unions had previously indicated they would take it easy over the holiday season, but changed its position after another failed attempt to convince the government to negotiate.

“We will be in the streets and we will continue with the marches… We are returning because the government has not changed its position at all.” - Labor union leader Diogenes Orjuela

Opposition politicians are adding additional pressure by taking the security forces to court for violent attempts to repress the protests and other alleged crimes.

The strike leaders have a list of 13 demands that effectively seek a major shift in the government’s economic policy, and the implementation of peace policies agreed with leftist guerrilla group FARC and victims in a 2016 peace deal.

Duque’s far-right Democratic Center party fiercely rejects the peace process, but received a beating in local elections in October.

Rising unemployment rates, and persistently high levels of crime, corruption and political violence have swollen support for the strikes.

Outrage after Colombia riot police force young woman into unmarked car

Joe Parkin Daniels. The Guardian. December 13, 2019

Outrage has erupted in Colombia after a young woman participating in anti-government protests was grabbed by riot police in body armour, forced into an unmarked vehicle and driven away.

Video of the incident showed the woman sobbing and screaming “Help! The police have kidnapped me!” through the window of the black Chevrolet sedan as it drove away from the demonstration near the National University in Bogotá on Wednesday night.

Two members of the public gave chase in another vehicle, and the driver can be heard in the video shouting reassurance to the detainee as they drive alongside. The pursuers eventually stopped their car in front of the officers, who then released the woman in the middle of heavy traffic.

The video – and a second clip showing a young man apparently being forced into an unmarked car on Tuesday night – prompted fresh accusations of excessive force against the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron – known by its Spanish initials, Esmad.

Bogotá’s chief of police said at a press conference on Wednesday that while it was not usual for police to use unmarked vehicles when detaining people, it was legal.

But Gen Hoover Penilla did not specify why the two protesters were seized – nor why the woman was released if she had been suspected of wrongdoing. The whereabouts of the young man remained unclear late on Wednesday.

Penilla admitted that the woman should not have been left on the road, but adopted a defiant tone, telling reporters: “We will continue to do our duty but I ask you not to question everything our police officers do.”

For the past three weeks, Colombia has been racked by demonstrations triggered by widespread discontent with the proposed economic reforms of the rightwing president, Iván Duque, whose approval rating has dropped to just 26% since he took office in August last year.

Protesters are also angry at the lack of support for the historic 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which formally ended five decades of civil war that killed 260,000 and forced more than 7 million to flee their homes.

In a country which not long ago suffered the highest kidnapping rate in the world – and whose security forces have themselves been implicated in forced disappearances – the videos of police snatching protesters evoked disturbing memories.

According to the national victims’ agency more than 150,000 people were forcibly disappeared between 1986 and 2017, with up to 80,000 still missing. Combatants on all sides of the conflict engaged in the practice.

While most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, some vandalism occurred when protests first broke out on 21 November.

The hardline response by Esmad – who have fired teargas, flash bangs, and “less lethal” bean bag rounds at peaceful protesters – has only fanned the discontent.

One 18-year-old protester, Dilan Cruz, died after he was shot in the head with a bean bag round on 23 November.

Opposition politicians called a debate on Esmad on Wednesday morning, while protest organizers have called for the unit to be dismantled altogether.

“Esmad has been acting violently and leaving victims in their wake for years,” said Mafe Carrascal, a prominent activist. “Rather than containing disturbances, they are generating them by provoking showdowns and killing people.”

Working Past 70: Chileans Struggle to Get By on Meager Pensions

EFE. December 14, 2019

SANTIAGO – Carmen Aranguiz is 71 years old and looking for work.

She retired in 2010 but her pension is so low that she has been bouncing around from one occasional job to another to boost her income. Likewise, thousands of other Chilean retirees are struggling to get by in their later years due to a much-criticized pension system.

Last month, the average pension paid by Chile’s Pension Fund Administrators (AFPs), private entities that manage Chileans’ mandatory individual retirement accounts, was $221 for women and $384 for men.

“Every month I have to pay for the water, the electricity, the gas, food, gasoline ... and what I earn isn’t enough for all that,” Aranguiz, who earns $258 monthly, told Efe.

After contributing to her retirement plan for 20 years as a teacher at a school in Peñalolen, a suburb of Santiago, Aranguiz has been forced to work at different daycare jobs in her so-called “golden years.”

A portion of her income has evaporated due to the disruptions caused by mass anti-government protests that date back to Oct. 18 and have been described as the worst social unrest in Chile since the restoration of democracy in 1990.

But Aranguiz says she hopes the phone starts ringing at the start of a new school year in March.

Protesters have made pension reform, a topic of intense debate in recent years, one of their chief demands.

All Chilean workers are required to contribute 10 percent of their monthly salary into an individual retirement account managed by one of seven AFPs.

These private companies invest in capital markets and make hefty profits. Between January and September of 2019, their net income amounted to a combined $511 million.

The state participates in this model through a scheme known as the Pilar Solidario (Solidarity Pillar), which guarantees a basic pension regardless of the retirees’ contribution history.

Even so, eight of every 10 new Chilean pensioners are unable to cobble together a monthly retirement payout that is above the poverty line, according to a report by the Fundacion Sol think tank.

But the CEO of the AFP Association, Fernando Larrain, told Efe that the focus should not be placed on the pension fund administrators but rather on “improving the pensions.”

Increasing the pension payouts will mean “boosting saving rates, raising the age of retirement and the number of contributing workers.”

On Dec. 4, Chile’s Senate passed a bill that would gradually increase by up to 50 percent the basic monthly solidarity pension received by Chileans who have no alternative retirement income, an additional state contribution that is expected to benefit around 1.6 million retirees.

But Marco Kremerman, an economist with Fundacion Sol, said it is absolutely insufficient because it only provides relief to non-contributory retirees.

The expert said the current defined-contribution, privately managed fully-funded scheme based on individual accounts, a model established nearly 40 years ago during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 military dictatorship, has failed because it “hasn’t guaranteed dignified pensions for Chileans.”

He therefore advocates a model similar to the state-run, defined-benefit, pay-as- you-go contributive system that existed prior to 1981.

Cecilia Parraguirre, who is about to turn 68, works 45 hours a week at the telephone exchange of a hospital located in downtown Santiago.

When she retired seven years ago, she was surprised at her low monthly pension of just 170,000 pesos ($220) a month, which is around 30 percent of the salary she received as an insurance salesperson.

“I had the hope that by having a good amount of money accumulated my retirement would be decent,” Parraguirre told Efe.

But her “golden years” have been an illusion, as she went into debt due to health problems and also has been unable to pay for the university education of her two daughters.

“I’m not going to be able to keep working because of my health. I don’t know what I’m going to do then ... eat less?” Parraguirre lamented.

Aranguiz also imagined that she would enjoy a higher quality of life in her later years. “I never thought I’d be working. I imagined being surrounded by my granddaughters and friends, volunteering at some place where I could help.”

“I’ve always said I’ll work until I can’t anymore. Then I’ll have to rely on my family, but I want to be strong and dignified to the end,” she said.